


Work In Progress

by taecallsmenoona



Category: Monsta X (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, May be slightly OOC, Yoongi is an asshole, jooheon just wants to do this project, mature rating for language right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 17:47:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18921994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taecallsmenoona/pseuds/taecallsmenoona
Summary: They are just too different. Their styles, their work ethics, everything. There's no way this project was going to get completed properly without one of them doing all of the work alone or killing each other while doing it. Jooheon definitely didn't want to find an enemy in Yoongi, but unfortunately it's looking like it can't be avoided.ORJooheon and Yoongi get paired together on a production assignment.





	1. The Beat Goes On

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hey, hello, and welcome to another episode of 'things you can't unsee'
> 
> I'm your host, Erica, and we're on the wild ride that is Lee Jooheon and Min Yoongi - Two of the hardest rappers yet two of the softest people. This AU takes place in America, because American uni is the only uni that I know through and through. I doubt I'll use honorifics as it wouldn't make much sense in the US, but I haven't decided. :) 
> 
> I'm still fairly new to the writing game so I really hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading.
> 
> Also, many thanks to Kia for being my reader and sounding board and to Steph for the idea. We love twitter friends

Obviously the first week of classes is always the most boring. Syllabus week - what a snooze fest. Students file into the 9:30 AM junior-level music production class in a way that can only be described as organized chaos. If you were in the production program, you knew that you needed to get to this class early during the first week to get a good spot. Doctor Woods was a legend in the production organization and everyone was eager and willing to learn from him.

 

Min Yoongi walked in in the middle of the crowd and was able to secure a spot in the third row. He was content with his spot as he placed his body in one chair, his backpack in the one to his left and his jacket on the one to his right, wordlessly saving seats for his two best friends who, annoyingly, hadn't shown up yet. Surely they wouldn't have assumed that Yoongi would get there early and save them seats.

 

That's exactly what they did.

 

Namjoon and Hoseok showed up about 3 minutes before class was supposed to start and immediately found Yoongi wearing his most intimidating frown directed at them. They both ducked their head at their older friend, whispering quick "sorry"s and took their seats. Minutes later, Dr. Woods introduced himself and his TA's while they passed the syllabi down the rows.

 

"I'll tell you this now so you can't say you've never heard it before: there _is_ a final project. It counts for 75% of your grade and you're expected to work on it throughout the semester to showcase what you've learned and put your own personal spins on it. It's a group project, so please take these first few weeks to mull over concepts."

 

The class dismissed early, not surprising for the first few days of a new term. Professors usually didn't like to get into the bulk of their first lesson until they were assured that everyone who was going to join the class has shown up at least once.  

 

"Seriously guys, I think we should clean up Cypher and maybe do a few more cuts of that for this project" Hoseok exclaims happily. Cypher was something they had been performing together for a few weeks now and they had all worked on it and produced it together. Namjoon and Yoongi nod their head in agreement. Hoseok and Namjoon started talking animatedly about how they can revise their current work into something class-worthy.

 

"Jooheon, I swear to god we are NOT doing that." Yoongi hears someone say to his friend. The two looked familiar, but honestly he was pouting the entire time he was waiting for Namjoon and Hoseok, so he can't be sure. "Why not, Chang? It's a genius idea!" The kid, Jooheon, I guess, pleads to his friend. Yoongi misses the kid's response as the pair keep walking in the other direction of the table Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok occupied. He shakes his head and tunes back in to his friends' conversation, acting like he was totally paying attention the whole time.

 

*****

 

Jooheon heard the words 'group project' in his 9:30 AM production class and he immediately woke up. He wasn't sleeping, per se, but he definitely wasn't paying _super_ close attention. When Dr. Woods explained that the project was a huge part of their grade and they were going to be doing it with other people, his head immediately whipped to where his friend Changkyun was sitting. Changkyun must have had the same thought because he was staring back at Jooheon, and honestly it was a little bit of a creepy sight to the people sitting around them. They'd both been late so all of the remaining seats were singles and they couldn't sit together.

 

Honestly, it wasn't his fault that he was late. Wonho had called him early this morning crying over something cute his dog did, and what was he going to do, _not listen_ ? There were pictures and honestly it was the cutest thing Jooheon had seen. What _wasn't_ cute, however, was the annoyed look on Changkyun's face when Jooheon finally made his way outside where Changkyun was waiting for him. He shook his head as Jooheon approached. "I don't even want to know. Let's go. We're already late. I hate you for this."

 

Millions of ideas were coming to Jooheon's mind upon the announcement of the group project. Jooheon knew that Changkyun has been working on a few different things to take to the “Underground” - whatever that is. This seems like a really good way to get Changkyun’s stuff out into the normal universe, something that Jooheon has been begging the younger to do for years.

 

He suggests as much to Changkyun after the class dismissed for the day. "Jooheon, I swear to god we are NOT doing that." Changkyun exclaimed with a huff.

 

"Why not, Chang? It's a genius idea!"

 

“We’re not putting my unfinished bullshit up for this project. I’ll be laughed out of the class and probably the university. It’s garbage!”

 

“It’s not garbage and you know it. Just think about it, please.” Jooheon knew a lost cause when he saw it, and right now, Changkyun wasn’t going to budge. He sighed in defeat, mentally promising to return to the subject in a few weeks when they would really start putting together the piece for real once they got the assignment details.

 

*****

 

The term was passing quickly and Yoongi had gotten himself into a routine: class, work, cypher, repeat. He was loving everything that Dr. Woods has been teaching them and he’s been putting pieces of what he’s learned into his cypher verses, loving the way they were coming together.

 

Music production was coming to an end for the week when Dr. Woods stops mid-sentence. “OH! I’m supposed to assign project partners today!” The class looks around to their friends confused. What does he mean _assign_ project partners? Suddenly Yoongi didn’t have a good feeling about this project. The class was rather large. What if he wasn’t paired with Joon or Hoseok. There was a pit forming in Yoongi’s stomach as he listened to both of his friends get paired off with other people.

 

“Lee Jooheon and Min Yoongi.” _Jooheon. Where have I heard that name before?_ Yoongi thinks to himself as his eyes scan the lecture hall. He spots another, familiar, pair of eyes doing the same thing as they lock on each other. There was a nonverbal nod shared between the pair and Jooheon turned around and spoke to his friend.

 

“Guys how are we gonna do this? I know nothing about my partner or his style.” Hoseok complains.

 

“Hobi shut up, you’re literally working with Im Changkyun. He’s a genius. We see him perform all the time. You’re gonna be fine.” Namjoon sighs at him. Hoseok hangs his head in agreement with Namjoon. There are truly worse partners to have. Hoseok already knows that Changkyun is talented, having watched the younger boy perform numerous times.

 

Yoongi stays silent for the rest of the class. He’s trying to piece together how he’s going to work with someone that’s not Hoseok or Namjoon. He already has a hard enough time making friends and he clings to the ones he already has. Hoseok’s complaints about Changkyun are exactly Yoongi’s complaints about this _Jooheon_ fellow. Maybe he’ll approach Dr. Woods and ask to be paired with someone else. Maybe see if he can swap partners with Changkyun since obviously Jooheon and Changkyun are friends already. He’s sure that they’ve already planned just as much as he had with his assumed partner.

 

When the class is dismissed, Yoongi approaches the front of the class. As per usual, there is a line forming where people congregate to ask the teacher and the TAs questions about this lesson or prior lessons. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Changkyun off to the side chatting with Hoseok. He keeps glancing to the front of the line. Following his eyes, he sees Jooheon talking to Dr. Woods. He cranes his neck to listen in to their conversation, wondering if Jooheon was wondering the same thing about a swap.

 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lee, there’s not going to be any partner swapping. If you were to go forward with production, sometimes you don’t get to choose who you work with. Part of the point of this is to learn to work with others and learn to work outside of your comfort zone. You will work with Mr. Min. I’m excited to see how your project turns out.” Jooheon visibly deflates and turns to where Hoseok and Changkyun were waiting and he notices another figure approaching the pair as well from the same line.

 

Jooheon puts on his best smile as he approaches. “Hey. You must be Yoongi. I’m Jooheon. I guess we’re working together for this project.” Yoongi grunts in response, not taking his eyes off of the floor. “Were you trying to change partners too?” Jooheon asks him. Yoongi nods. “Yeah it made sense in my head since my friend is workin’ with yours that we swap, but he gave a hard no. Something about learning to work with new people or some bullshit. I don’t know. But we’re in this together so let’s get it.” Yoongi looks up and is met with a shy, sheepish Jooheon smile and his stomach does a slight flip when he sees it.

 

“Yeah I guess.” Yoongi fishes his phone from his pocket and hands it to Jooheon. “Put your number in here and we’ll meet up to figure out what we want to do.”

 

Yoongi shifts on his feet as he waits for Jooheon to hand his phone back to him. He’s running through many scenarios in his head on how this can possibly go wrong. This project is worth so much of the final grade that it can’t get messed up. Yoongi will do it all himself if he has to. This is so important to him as production is the only thing he’s wanted to do for as long as he can remember. He has no idea what Jooheon values, nor does he want to find out. He just wants to finish this project, pass the class, and continue toward his dream career with his two best friends.

 

Yoongi was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice that Hoseok and Changkyun had left, leaving just Jooheon standing in front of him awkwardly waving his hand in Yoongi’s face.

 

“Oh, sorry.” Yoongi shrugs as he takes his phone back. “I’ll just text you so you have my number.”

 

“Oh, I just told you I did that already.” Jooheon shyly says back.

 

“Oh sorry. I was lost in thought.”

 

“No problem. I’ve got some ideas that I’d like to run by you, but unfortunately I have another class in…..oh shit! In five minutes. I’m sorry, I have to go.” Jooheon grabs his bag from the floor behind him and runs out of the room without another word, leaving Yoongi alone in the classroom. With a large sigh, Yoongi grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder. He shuffles his feet toward his apartment, not really feeling like going to his other classes.

 

Yoongi trudges in his apartment, a wave of exhaustion coming over him. He slips his shoes off as he walks in the door and drags his socked feet toward his bed. He collapses like dead weight, not even bothering to change from his jeans to sweats. Before he falls victim to sleep, he barely registers his phone vibrating from its perch on his nightstand. Grumbling to himself, he picks his phone up and stares at it.

 

**Joohoney [11:06am]:** _what does your schedule look like next week? id love to run some things by you_

 

Yoongi rolls his eyes at the _Joohoney_ contact name. He decides to himself that he’ll respond later. He rolls back over and finally succumbs to the sleepiness that washes over him. Yoongi has no idea how this is going to work.


	2. Hello, It's Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You listened to the right track, right?” Yoongi asked in disbelief. How could he possibly think that his was better?
> 
>  
> 
> “Was it titled ‘bullshit project part 1’?”
> 
>  
> 
> “...yes”
> 
>  
> 
> “That’s what I listened to. Top notch title by the way. Really glad to see that you’re taking this seriously.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry this took so long. Life, man. Life.
> 
> a thousand thanks to Kia for being my reader. Enjoy

Call him petty, but Yoongi knowingly and purposely doesn’t respond to Jooheon’s text the next day. He’s never been one for making friends and at this point, he’s not sure if it’s his own choice or if people actively avoid him. Namjoon and Hoseok have both told him he has “classic resting bitch face,” whatever that means. Whenever they tell him that, they’re usually met with a glare and an eye-roll, further accentuating his friends’ point.

 

Yoongi decided to skip production today, opting to work on Cypher instead. Namjoon has been hounding him for days to finish his verse as their performance was approaching quickly and they have a reputation to uphold. 

 

Yoongi had been working tirelessly for about four hours when his phone buzzed again. He pulled his headphones off of his head and glanced down at the screen, catching the sender’s name before his phone went dark again. He audibly sighed as he stretched his arms above his head, both elbows popping from being fully extended for the first time in hours. Yoongi picks up his phone and groans, remembering the production project.

 

**Joohoney [02:34pm]:**

_ hey you werent in prod today. you good? _

 

Yoongi rolls his eyes while reading Jooheon’s message.  _ Why was he looking for me?  _

 

**Yoongi [02:34pm]:**

_ yeah i know...had stuff to do _

 

**Joohoney [02:35pm]:**

_ are you free now? _

 

**Yoongi [02:35pm]:**

_ why _

 

**Joohoney [02:35pm]:**

_ ugh i just think ur so cool and i really want to hang out with u uwu ^.^ _

 

Yoongi audibly chokes at Jooheon’s message as another message comes through.

 

**Joohoney [02:37pm]:**

_ we have to work on this project. that’s why _

 

_ Oh. _

 

**Yoongi [02:37pm]:**

_ actually, i was about to leave for the day. what about tomorrow or fri? _

 

Yoongi sees the typing bubbles appear and disappear a few times before his phone goes black from inactivity. He walks back toward his computer, forgetting his phone on his bed. Before he sits down, his phone buzzes. He turns on his heel and jumps on his bed, landing with a soft ‘oof’ on his fluffy comforter. Opening his phone, he sees Jooheon’s response, which puzzles him.

 

**Joohoney [02:40pm]:**

_ never mind...this weeks no good… _

 

Yoongi reads the message a few more times trying to read into the tone before deciding not to breach the subject with Jooheon. If he wanted to tell him why, he would have. Obviously he didn’t want to and honestly, Yoongi doesn’t really care.

 

Right?

 

*****

 

Jooheon throws his phone onto his couch with a huff.  _ Why couldn’t he be cooperative? _ Jooheon had been reaching out to Yoongi for days trying to meet up with the other but every time,  _ every fucking time,  _ Yoongi had an excuse as to why he couldn’t make it. Jooheon was getting frustrated, and that’s putting it lightly. He had resolved to calling Yoongi out in class, but the other was either coming in right as Dr. Woods started lecture or not showing up at all. 

 

“Chang I think he’s  _ actually _ trying to avoid me. How are we going to do this stupid fucking project if I can’t even meet with my partner?” Jooheon whines to his friend after class. 

 

“I don’t know, Joo. Want me to talk to Hobi?” Changkyun looks unphased by his friend’s predicament, probably because he’s mid-way through a verse he’s been uninspired on for days. 

 

“Yes and no. Ugh, I don’t know.”

 

“Listen Joo. Not to be an ass, but can we not talk for a sec? I really need to get this down or I’m afraid I’ll lose it.” Changkyun briefly looks up from his computer, shooting Jooheon an apologetic glance. 

 

“That’s fine. At least one of us should do well in this class. Maybe I’ll just become your groupie. I’ll lead your fanclub.” Jooheon sinks down in his seat when Changkyun’s apologetic expression turns into a sarcastic eye-roll. 

 

“Good. Someone has to.” Changkyun deadpanned and returned his attention back to his computer. 

 

“Fuck you” Jooheon mumbled, more to himself than to his friend. 

 

_ What am I going to do? _

 

_ ***** _

 

“Yoongi you have to meet with him sometime. This is literally 75% of your grade. Stop being a fucking idiot.” 

 

“Hobi what the fuck? It’s literally 8 in the morning. I don’t want to deal with this now.”

 

“I don’t give a shit. I’m tired of Jooheon crashing my sessions with Changkyun because he can’t work on his own project with his partner. Have you even talked to him?” Hoseok had the ‘disappointed mom’ vibe going as he lectured Yoongi.

 

“Yes, I’ve  _ talked  _ to him. We’ve tried to meet up but we’re literally not free at the same times. This isn’t just me, Hobi.” Yoongi tries to reason with his friend.

 

“Bullshit.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I said bullshit. You forget that your word isn’t the only one I have. I’ve read the messages, Yoongi, you idiot. You’ve got a fucking excuse for everything.” 

 

Yoongi drops his head.  _ Shit. _

 

“I’m not saying you have to be his friend, but  _ shit  _ Yoon. He’s a good guy and he’s fucking talented. Just work with him.”

 

“Fine.”

 

**Yoongi [02:16am]:**

_ i’m free all weekend. u wanna work on this thing? _

 

**Joohoney [02:16am]:**

_ hgfgjhljkjghfjhfjkh _

_ fucking ifnally  _

_ Y E S ! _

_ wait - why are u up this late? _

 

**Yoongi [02:18am]:**

_ technically it’s early but w/e. this is normal for me ig. ill send u my address. saturday would work best if thats cool with you _

 

**Joohoney [02:25am]:**

_ shit… _

_ yea saturday should work. i’ll just have to rearrange some things. _

 

**Yoongi [02:25am]:**

_ I mean if u have something to do it’s fine. we can wait… _

 

**Joohoney [02:25am]:**

_ sldsjfaldkjfalsj _

 

**Yoongi [02:25am]:**

_ are you broken what the hell? _

 

**Joohoney [02:29am]:**

_ not broken asdfga _

_ Saturday is fine...saturday is great _

 

**Yoongi [02:29am]:**

_ great.see u in class _

 

_ ***** _

 

The rest of the week passes with little communication between Yoongi and Jooheon, and if you ask Yoongi, that’s exactly how he’d prefer it. He spent the time he wasn’t in production class working on his half of the project. Since he had been skipping, he had been working diligently between his Cypher verse and this stupid assignment. Namjoon and Hoseok have both been giving him shit for missing so much (they were his ticket to not missing notes, after all) but he couldn’t bring himself to face Jooheon, especially after he has been such a jerk to him. 

 

Yoongi barely slept Friday night and didn’t understand why. He was meeting with Jooheon at 10 at his apartment and nearly every inch of it has been cleaned, wiped down, and effectively sterilized. He didn’t want Jooheon to think he was a slob. He opens last night’s message from Jooheon, checking the time for the third time.

 

**Joohoney [08:54pm]:**

_ does 10am work for you tomorrow? _

 

**Yoongi [08:54pm]:**

_ yes _

 

**Joohoney [08:55pm]:**

_ kool. see you then :D _

 

It was currently 10:06 and Jooheon hadn’t shown up yet. He double checked the address Yoongi texted him and it was right. Yoongi’s single apartment was fairly close to campus and it was a well-known complex, housing a good bit of the student body.

 

Yoongi is on his sixth lap of pacing in his living room when he hears a frantic knock on his door. He tries his best to wipe his frown off of his face as he opens the door to a very out of breath Jooheon.

 

“I’m so sor-”

 

“You’re late,” Yoongi interrupts.

 

“I know I’m so sorry. I should have texted but I didn’t think I would be this late. Wonho lives right around the corner and he needed me to check on his dog and he gave me puppy eyes and I couldn’t say no. Wonho gave me puppy eyes, not the dog, but the dog is pretty cute. I HAVE PICTURES!”

 

“It’s fine, let’s just get to work. I’ve already started.” Yoongi had no desire to see Wonho’s (that was his name right?) dog. He just wanted to get today over with and get a good base layer for this project.

 

“OH! I’ve got a few things too.” Jooheon seems excited as he pulls out his laptop and thrusts it at Yoongi.

 

Yoongi puts his headphones over his ears and listens to what Jooheon has so far. It’s  _ okay.  _ Yoongi thinks what he has is better. He finishes listening and hands Jooheon’s laptop back to him.

 

“What do you think?” Jooheon looks like a puppy waiting for a treat as he waits for Yoongi’s reaction. He’s sitting on his hands and he is shooting him sad, hopeful eyes. 

 

“Here’s mine. Give it a listen.” Yoongi hands over his laptop as Jooheon pulls out his headphones. Jooheon’s bobbing his head and Yoongi can hear bits and pieces of the heavy bass come through periodically. The short piece comes to an end and Jooheon sighs as he takes his headphones off.

 

“Thoughts?” Yoongi huffs at him, not appreciating his uncharacteristic silence.

 

“It’s not bad, but I don’t know where else we could go with it. It’s only a minute and it feels like it’s over already. There’s no room to grow or expand. It has a clear and defined beginning, middle, and end. I think I like the direction mine takes a little better. You?”

 

“You listened to the right track, right?” Yoongi asked in disbelief. How could he possibly think that his was better?

 

“Was it titled ‘ _ bullshit project part 1 _ ’?”

 

“...yes”

 

“That’s what I listened to. Top notch title by the way.  _ Really _ glad to see that you’re taking this seriously.”

 

“Yours wasn’t that great either. It sounded like something that I could do when I was eleven!”

 

“ _ Please _ ,” Jooheon scoffs, “if you had been in class, like me, then you’d know that we have to incorporate something from each lesson into this project. You have to demonstrate understanding of the topics. Your ‘bullshit project’ shit is none of that. It’s carelessly thrown together and doesn’t show that you’ve paid attention to anything in class.” 

 

Yoongi gapes at Jooheon as he slams his laptop shut and packs up his bag. 

 

“Where are you going? We haven’t done anything.” Yoongi asks.

 

“Today isn’t going to be productive. We’ll reconvene later. Come to class. See you then.” With that, Jooheon slams the door behind him, leaving a stunned Yoongi behind to process everything that happened.

 

“Fuck this.” Yoongi says to himself as he puts his laptop away.

 

*****

 

“What the fuck Jooheon?” Changkyun says as he sits down next to Jooheon before production starts.

 

“Good fucking morning to you too, Mr. Sunshine.” Jooheon mumbles to his friend.

 

“Why did I have to hear about your collossial blow up from Hoseok instead of my best friend?”

 

“Because I didn’t want to talk about it. It’s dumb and I don’t want to think about it. I’m already pissed off enough. Spare me the lecture.”

 

“Oh I’m not going to lecture you. From what I gather, he deserved the things you said. I’m just shocked that it came from you. I didn’t know you had it in you to be a blunt asshole. I’m so proud.”

 

“Shut up. He’s just so  _ frustrating. _ He makes all of these excuses as to why he can’t meet up, he doesn’t share his ideas with me, or even talk to me really, and he doesn’t show up to class. He’s making it literally impossible to work with him and I just snapped.”

 

“I get it. I’m surprised you made it that long before you got fed up.”

 

“Chang he named the file ‘bullshit project part 1’ like what the fuck?” Jooheon throws his hands up in exasperation, recalling different pieces of Saturday’s explosion.

 

“Shit I didn’t know that much. That’s stupid. Want me to get involved?”

 

“No. I just need to cool down and figure out what I’m going to do next. I think what I’ve started is the way to doing well on this project, but he’s so far up his own ass that he can’t see that.”

 

“Okay, I’m in your corner, I swear, but did you actually give his track a chance or did you see the name, get pissed, and mentally shut down?”

 

“No I listened with an open mind. He asked for my thoughts and I gave them. He just didn’t like it and immediately lashed out.”

 

“Hmmm. Okay. Well if you want me to step in, I will. I know you’re not my partner, but you’re my friend and I can’t sit by and let this happen if there’s something I can do about it.”

 

“Okay class, let’s begin.” The conversation was essentially over when Dr. Woods’ booming voice signalled the beginning of the lecture. 

 

*****

 

_ *buzzzzz buzzzzz buzzzzz* _

 

“Hello?”

 

“Where the fuck are you?” Namjoon’s disappointed dad voice echoes through the receiver as Yoongi pulls the phone away from his ear.

 

“I’m at home. What’s up?”

 

“Are you just not going to class anymore?”

 

“No I just needed a day.”

 

“Oh. He needed a day, Hobi, you hear that?”

 

“Spare me, Joon.”

 

“Fuck you with your ‘spare me’ bullshit. You’ve been skipping class, you blow up on your damn partner, and you’re making Hobi’s life a little more difficult. Did you forget that Changkyun is Hoseok’s partner  _ AND JOOHEON’S BEST FUCKING FRIEND? _ ”

 

“No I didn’t forget Joon. You heard how everything went. I can’t work with him.”

 

“Figure it out. You don’t have a choice. You work with him or you both fail, and honestly that would be really shitty of you to leave him out to dry like that. His start is actually really fucking good. See you tomorrow.”   
  


“Bye.” Yoongi’s ‘goodbye’ fell on deaf ears as Namjoon hung up before he could respond. Yoongi sighs heavily and pulls his comforter over his head. He doesn’t want to deal with any of this today (or any day, really).

 

Tossing and turning a few times, Yoongi falls into a restless slumber, hoping that when he wakes up, this will all just have been a terrible dream.


	3. Cypher Pt. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Great” Jooheon mumbles. “Fucking fantastic.”
> 
> “Got a better idea? You didn’t actually come prepared today either.”
> 
> “Both of you shut the fuck up.” Namjoon hisses. “Yoongi, you’ll show him your start, but rename it first, unless you truly want kicked out of the class.”
> 
> *thud* This time it was Yoongi’s head hitting the desk. “This is awful.” Jooheon and Yoongi say simultaneously.
> 
> “At least you can agree on something.” Namjoon says to himself while firing off a text to his group chat with Hoseok, Changkyun and Jisung.
> 
> Joonie [09:58am]:   
> These idiots are screwed and you guys left me here to deal with them alone. Thanks...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm back. This chapter kicked my ass and I had to rework it a few different times. Hope you like it and I'm sorry it took me so long.

It wasn’t a dream at all, but rather a never-ending cycle of nightmarish events. Neither Jooheon or Yoongi felt the need to apologize to the other and they were both holding onto the belief that their start was better than the other person’s. 

 

“Holy fuck, Changkyun. I’m going to kill them.” Hoseok sighs at his partner.

 

“Kill who?” Namjoon says, walking back to the table setting down the snacks he brought for everyone.

 

“Yoongi and Jooheon. They’re still not speaking to each other.” Namjoon’s partner, Jisung, supplies helpfully. Namjoon hums in acknowledgement. 

 

“If I have to hear Jooheon complain one more time about how insufferable Yoongi is, I might literally punch him.” Changkyun threatens. 

 

“Ugh same. I know Yoongi heard us when we talked to him. Jooheon’s start is good. He’s just being stubborn right now. Hopefully they can learn to work together.”

 

“Okay, Joonie, talking isn’t the best description for what you did. You lit him up.” Hoseok snickers.

 

“Meh. He deserved it.” Everyone nods in agreement with Namjoon. “Chang, are you performing this weekend?”

 

“Yeah I’ve been working on a few things that I’m not sure about. I’m hoping to get a little bit of input, actually. Got a sec?”

 

“Of course, but honestly the stuff you make is always good. I’m not worried about not liking it.” Changkyun pulls out his laptop and the headphone splitter and sits back as his new group of friends evaluate his latest creation.

 

*****

 

Yoongi drops his bag and slumps in his chair at 9:24, 6 minutes until his production class starts. He grumbles his greeting to Namjoon and shoots him a look asking where Hoseok is.

 

“He’s working with Changkyun on their project.” Namjoon supplies, answering Yoongi’s silent question. Yoongi acknowledges with a nod, pulling his hood up after making eye contact with Jooheon. Jooheon makes a beeline for them and sits down in the empty seat beside Namjoon, mumbling ‘hello’ to Namjoon and ignoring Yoongi.

 

“Good morning, everyone. Hope everything is going well with your project. We’re about a third of the way through the term. I’ve decided to start random checks to see how your progress is coming and to provide any helpful tips to make these as great as we can.” Yoongi perks up at this and immediately pales. He glances over at Jooheon who has a similar rigid posture and an equally frightened expression. “Checks will start today after class. I want to see the following groups after lecture: Yoongi Min and Jooheon Lee, Chan Bang and Hyunjin Hwang, and Changbin Seo and Hongjoong Kim.”

 

Yoongi hears a soft thud from a few seats down, looking to see Jooheon repeatedly smacking his forehead into the desk in front of him. Looking to Namjoon for help, he’s met with a smug look and a coy shrug, almost as if Namjoon is saying “ _ I told you so, fucker. _ ”

 

“ _ Jooheon _ .” Yoongi whispers

 

“What?”

 

“What are we going to do?”

 

“I don’t fucking know Yoongi. This isn’t exactly ideal considering we haven’t fucking done anything.”

 

“Ugh. Did you even bring your laptop today?” Yoongi asks, noticing Jooheon’s backpack looked lighter than usual.

 

*thud* “No.”

 

“Fine. We’ll show him mine.”

 

“ _ Great”  _ Jooheon mumbles. “Fucking fantastic.”

 

“Got a better idea? You didn’t actually come prepared today either.”

 

“Both of you shut the fuck up.” Namjoon hisses. “Yoongi, you’ll show him your start, but rename it first, unless you truly want kicked out of the class.”

 

*thud* This time it was Yoongi’s head hitting the desk. “This is awful.” Jooheon and Yoongi say simultaneously.

 

“At least you can agree on something.” Namjoon says to himself while firing off a text to his group chat with Hoseok, Changkyun and Jisung.

 

**Joonie [09:58am]:**

_ These idiots are screwed and you guys left me here to deal with them alone. Thanks... _

  
  


*****

 

“Ahh yes, misters Min and Lee, wonderful! Let’s see what you have so far.” Yoongi hands over his laptop with the production program already launched, showing Yoongi’s start to the project (now named  _ Prod4764 Project - Lee/Min _ ). As the beat continues, Jooheon glares at Yoongi, realizing that Yoongi has added more to his start than what he had originally heard. “ _ This is different _ ” he mouths. Yoongi smirks at him and returns his gaze to their professor. 

 

“Not a bad start, boys. It could use some touch ups about 45 seconds in. It feels a little bland. Maybe look into a slight beat switch or a background bass line to give it a little more color. It also feels kind of like you’re heading for a dead end around that time too. Like there’s not much room for it to grow past what you have. We still have quite a bit of time left in the semester. Maybe rework the last 30 seconds to give it more of an open ending so you don’t run into any dead ends.” Yoongi nods at Dr. Woods’ suggestions, jotting a few notes down in his notebook. His face is turning red, remembering the conversation he had with Jooheon three weeks ago. 

 

“Thank you, sir,” both boys uttered together after Dr. Woods was finished with his remarks. They both grabbed their bags and walked out together, mimicking the look of two cooperative partners. 

 

“Okay that was way too fucking close.” Jooheon said, visibly deflating once they leave the lecture hall. Yoongi glares at Jooheon again, but nods his head in agreement. Can we please get together soon and actually get some productive work done on this? Maybe with some real conversation and give and take?”

 

“Fine, but I’m busy this weekend.”

 

“Oh, okay. Next week, then? I’ll text you what days I’m free”

 

“Next week.” Yoongi responds with a nod.

 

“Yoongi?” Jooheon calls as they’re parting ways.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I fucking told you so.”

 

*****

 

“Chang why do you want me to go?” Jooheon whines at his friend. All he wanted to do was stay home and work on his project. He made a mental note to rework some of Yoongi’s start and incorporate some of the things he’s learned throughout the first few weeks of classes to revamp the ending as Dr. Woods had suggested. He had it written down in his class notebook but he wanted to get it into his computer so it wouldn’t leave his mind.

 

“You’ve never come to watch me perform. We’ve been friends for  _ years  _ Jooheon - YEARS! I figured my best friend would want to be supportive.”

 

“I finally have an idea about what I want to do with some of this project. I need to get it down before I forget!”

 

“Do you have it written down?”

 

“.....yes,” Jooheon follows with a quick nod.

 

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re actually going to forget it?” Changkyun challenges.

 

“.....maybe.”

 

“Are you just trying to get out of going?”

 

“Of course not!” Jooheon blanches, seemingly offended.

 

“Jooheon,” Changkyun warns.

 

“Okay fine, fine. I’ll fucking go. But if I forget what I was going to do, you’re going to be the one working with Yoongi to finish this project.”

 

“I can tell when you’re lying. You’re not going to fake me into believing you don’t remember to get out of working with Yoongi.”

 

“Fine. Let’s just go.” Jooheon relents, shoulders dropping dramatically, earning a sarcastic excited reaction from Changkyun.

 

“You’ll enjoy yourself if you stop acting like a baby.” This earned a pout from the older, but with that, the two left for the evening.

 

*****

 

Jooheon was expecting grungy when Changkyun told him about the underground, but he wasn’t expecting this. It was an unmarked warehouse that looked abandoned to a commoner, but the inside was spectacular. It had a huge stage, an even bigger bar in the back stocked with any kind of liquor or beer imaginable. Jooheon beelined for the bar, earning a scoff from Changkyun who followed closely behind. He ordered whatever was on special, Cypher, he thinks, and it was tasty. Some fruity, slightly carbonated drink that didn’t taste like the alcohol was sent from Hell’s Kitchen to poison you.

 

Jooheon and Changkyun found a table near the back and chatted for a while. Jooheon realized that Changkyun was quite popular here and it was weird to see his normally sarcastic friend be so warm and inviting. He hated it.

 

Eventually, though, Changkyun had to leave to get ready for his stage, leaving Jooheon in the back by himself. A few of Changkyun’s friends were at the table with them, but Jooheon’s never been one for small talk, opting to keep to himself. The lights on stage dimmed, and his attention was drawn to the three people he recognized from his Production class. His jaw dropped and he must have made an audible sound, because one of the people, Vernon? maybe?, turned to him and gave him a questioning look.

 

“Have you ever been here?” Vernon asked. Jooheon shakes his head, not trusting himself to speak. Vernon shrugged, “They’re good. One of the best I’ve seen here. They are completely self-producing. I hear they’re performing something new.” Jooheon nods at his table mate and returns his attention not only to the stage, but the shortest member occupying it. He recognizes Yoongi’s scowl all the way from here, and if he wasn’t interested in being here before, he was now. 

 

The three of them take their place in the middle of the stage and begin their introductions. He doesn’t hear Namjoon’s stage name, but he catches when Yoongi introduces himself as Suga and when Hoseok introduces himself with a beaming smile as “your hope, my hope, J-Hope” and he laughs to himself. They separate briefly and the background music starts when Namjoon points at the in-house DJ. It’s a good beat and Jooheon can barely contain his excitement. Why hadn’t Yoongi shown him any of this? Vernon said this was new. What other stuff does he have like this?

 

Their stage presence is phenomenal and like the rest of the crowd, Jooheon is wholly captivated. He watches each of his classmates, but he pays special attention to his project partner, noticing how his eyes glow with pride as the song moves forward. Jooheon could tell that he was in his element and it didn’t take a genius to know that Yoongi had a heavy hand in all of this. 

 

The song ended before Jooheon was ready for it to end and his head was spinning. Yoongi was good. Yoongi was  _ really  _ fucking good and now Jooheon felt like an ass for the things that he said to Yoongi before about not taking production seriously. Obviously he takes production seriously. 

 

Changkyun’s performance is a blur to him but Jooheon tries to pay as much attention as he can, while still struggling with himself over how to proceed with his new knowledge of Yoongi’s talents and skills. Should he approach Yoongi and tell him that he knows about whatever that was or should he play it off that he knows nothing? Should he rework what he’s already got or should they take Yoongi’s start and run with it? Jooheon retreats to the bar and orders two more drinks, telling the bartender that one is for his friend.

 

“Did you enjoy Cypher?” The bartender asks.

 

“Yeah the drink is great. I keep ordering them, don’t I?” Jooheon laughs, scratching the back of his neck.

 

“No the performance,” the bartender sighs, “they’re regulars. That’s the third part they’ve created for that series.”

 

“Oh. Yeah it was cool.” Jooheon laughs.

 

“They’re some of the best. G’night kid. Be safe.”

 

“Yeah, thanks. G’night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah i'm still not wild about how this chapter panned out, but it was necessary to how the story progresses. Let me know your thoughts or if you hated it completely.
> 
> You can find me on twitter: @taecallsmenoona


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